Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-12-02
IN A SUTTON FACTORY.
what a Brooklyn Reporter Saw In Nish
to One of Them.

amount to mucn, Dub WheH ~ 10 9s'
| that in the five establishments devoted
| to button making in this city there Is
capital of $3.50, 600 invested, it Is safe
to say that the business Is con'idera-
bic. Walking through Tiffany place
IN tho Sixth ward. my attention was ~
ractel to one of these factories. hau
| never seen u button made and. III fict'
| his was tho nearest | ever had been to
n place of the kind and for tho prr-
oso OF improving the opportunity
commenced climbing two Il Ghls OF
| stairs that are rs steep rs those leading
| to Miss Liberty lof per III on doe
| Island: but once inside the factory the
| climbing Of the steps was forgotten, rs
| the picture before mo was full OF inter-
| est. Ihore were about twenty girls al
work making or painting buttons
Tho power, drop and foot presses were
| in cons ant motion. Il making metal
| buttons the sheet is first taken and put
through the power press which turns
| out more sholls in minute than would
| I'LL bushcl basket. Those almost
| shapelcss bits Of brass or
whatever the material may be, arc then
carried over TO the drop, which falls on
| them with heavy thud. and tho tiny
| things of future use como out OF it with
rim formed around the shell. The
| eye maker is thcn put in use. and next
machine called tho closer is callol
| upon 10 perform its duty and the but
ton is finished except in color. which
looks II dull yellow, but this is reno
| ,Iiel, and tho metal buttons show their
brightness by being put through II
burning process in acid jars. which re-
scmbo icc-cream freezcrs. Then they
| are cooled of in running wafer and
taken to the stamp pro's, which turns
| quickly. and out thoy come with the
name of the maker stamped in the
shell part. Thcre are made in these
establishments n thousand different
varieties of metal buttons. mostly for
womcn's wear. Some AFRO handsome
to look at and others arc not, but Nil
go through The same process of manu'
featuring. Tho fancy buttons are taken
to tho painters. whose nimblo fingers
nrc continually busy while put.
ting on the finishing touches. III
making cloth buttons man has
ton layers of ma eriai before him from
out of which. by hand work, h
punches the same number of what arc
called toughs at ono timo and til,
whole operation works like n flash OF
lightning, so quick is the operation
performed. The toughs arc then taker
alongside the shells. where one of tho
work women attempted to show ms
how cloth buiton was made an(
finished, but while lis 'ening to the OK
p,anation of the work by the young
lady, the button was ready to go OF
the card and be shipped for Europe OF
anywhere else. She merely PLACED
the cloth or tough in the C osing ma.
chino and the eye in the tube, after
which the two were connected and {
delicate movement of the foot did Tho
rest, as the shell, eye and tough Were
united and the cloth button was com
plcted. Glove, shoe and all othe
kinds of buttons arc manufactured il
the same way. / was shown u clotl
patented and capital of 500 90,
invested in its manufacture. Il
another factory my attention wa
called to metal button iha
will. whom thoroughly known. do AVA,
with needle and thread. 1t is fastene'
in tho article of clothing by II self
locking machine that is as cunning Il
ii is simple.
Tho work Of button-making seems t.
be light and clearly, but | am sorry t
say that few of til, women toilers ar
ever likely to become millionnircs Will
following the indus ~, us their week.
wages seldom 60 over seven dollars
whilu moro often the reward for thei
labor is great dcal less, runnini
down rs low as two dollars, an,
averaging. tho year round. five dollar
per week; but us Brooklyn buttons q
everywhere on the face of the cart
and tho business is vot in its inf;.acy
: so To speak, it may be that in tim, tn
bosses VIII be able TO pay higher rat
of wages whio max ng more none
; themselves AT any rate, butte
factories are something that the gen
cral pablo knows very little about. an
visit TO any one of those establish
mcnts would lrovo not only proftabl
but highlv interesting to those of n
inquiriag turn of mind. Broo&iy
= Eagle